Throughout my college years, I've made a steady niche for myself as a self-proclaimed carboholic. Followed by meat as a close second, there is no bigger place in my heart as there is for a pizza or some homemade bread. For some reason, grains never really caught on with my palate. Whenever my dad would make rice or polenta, I eschewed it for a sandwich. It was only until now that I've really reaped the benefits of the smaller grains. I'll eat cous cous at dinner or pick up some sushi rolls, and a few days ago, I got the chance to sample polenta pennies from Lark Fine Foods, a little cookie with a big crunch.These cookies seemed to contain at least one of every ingredient that I'm ambivalent about. If they had included mushrooms, they would have had a full set. But that must not have made it out of the test room. Instead, these had golden raisins, polenta, and lemon zest. For a girl who prefers salty, sweet, and bold flavors, I was curious to see how I'd react to trying these. The bag was crammed full of cookies, little half-dollar sized confections in a sunny yellow tone, studded with raisin gems only slightly darker than the cookies themselves. Each cookie was crumbly, but held together like shortbread. The flavor was buttery and citrusy, with the perfect amount of sugar, and a zippy, jammy chew from the raisins. What really brought this to a level higher than Keebler was the texture. Regarding confections, I'm really starting to get hooked on sweet treats that utilize cornmeal. It reminded me of the best of Effie's Corncakes with a more breakfasty flavor and more accessible, thick texture. These were something I'd snatch up for sure if encountering them in a grocery store, and would be easy to doll up as miniature desserts for guests. A dollop of lemon cream cheese, anyone?As a brief diversion, I would also like to draw attention to two unrelated phrases from Oprah online today. They both provide examples of my current mood and financial status. So take that, Facebook! "Cool, heterosexual downtown-ness...the laid-back doctor is in." God, it's like a terrible fortune cookie.